The Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja has lamented that corpses in mortuaries in several Nigerian Army bases are decomposing due to the ongoing power outage.
Lagbaja made the revelation when he paid the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu a visit to seek intervention about its N42 billion debt to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC.
He called for the liquidation of the electricity debt of the Nigerian Army following the disconnection of various Army barracks and cantonments by power distribution companies.
According to a statement issued in Abuja by the electricity minister’s media adviser, Bolaji Tunji, the army chief’s primary reason for visiting was to discuss the repercussions of the power outage in Army units and the way forward.
Lagbaja said in the statement that the “Debt owed is loaded on the meter, so no matter the amount of credit we put, the meters pick it automatically. Corpses in the Army mortuaries are decomposing and the owners of the corpses are protesting.”
The statement added that, “he (Lagbaja) further stated that the army couldn’t raise funds to pay the entire debt, as he solicited liquidation as was done in 2005 by the then President.”
“Debt owed is loaded on the meter, so no matter the amount of credit we put, the meters pick it automatically. Corpses in the Army mortuaries are decomposing and the owners of the corpses are protesting.
“He (Lagbaja) further stated that the army couldn’t raise funds to pay the entire debt, as he solicited liquidation as was done in 2005 by the then President.”
Responding, Adelabu informed the Nigerian Army that he was ready to negotiate with power distribution firms to relieve the Nigerian Army of its N42 billion electrical debt burden.
He emphasized the significance of liquidity and funding in the electricity sector, and stated that the debt could not be written off.
Adelabu promised the army boss that he would intervene to restructure the debt payment if the Nigerian Army guaranteed regular payments.